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Single best meal we had in Italy. Lovely location. Worth the trip up the hill from Manarola. Chef chooses the menu on the day of the meal by shopping at the local market. Whole family works in the restarurant giving it a friendly, warm feel. Definitely recommend highly

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

186 reviews from our community

Visitor rating

Excellent

144

Very good

31

Average

6

Poor

2

Terrible

3

Rating summary

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

186 reviews sorted by:Date|Rating

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Smagyar

Budapest, Hungary

Level Contributor

64 reviews

48 restaurant reviews

18 helpful votes

“Great combination of food and atmosphere”

Reviewed December 6, 2013

This was certainly the best meal we had on our visit to Manarola and Cinque Terre. Nestled in the hills above Manarola, it is an easy 10 minute bus trip up. The restaurant itself is small and cosy and you feel like a guest in someone's home. We chose to have the menu of the day and were not disappointed. Everything was delicious and creatively presented, and we especially enjoyed the house specialty cappun magru. Christina, the owner and our hostess, made some excellent wine recommendations and the service throughout was perfect. At the end, she even kindly drove us back down to Manarola.

I couldn't recommend this restaurant more and will happily return on my next visit.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

sushimelon

London

Level Contributor

16 reviews

6 restaurant reviews

6 helpful votes

“Perfect meal!”

Reviewed September 1, 2013

I had dinner here on 1 Sep with my parents. We were seated upstairs where there is a beautiful view of the vineyards. It was really easy to catch the bus from Manarola (c 10 mins). A young gentleman on the bus showed us the way to the restaurant and turns out he is the chef's son! We had the capping magru and a fish dish for starters, both amazing! The fish dish was pan fried and still juicy, on a bed of avocados. We had the catch of the day and he seafood spaghetti for the main and you can tell the seafood is very fresh. Being from Vancouver where we are spoiled with fresh seafood, we are not saying this lightly! We were pleasantly full but ordered the ricotta mouse and some sort of parfait with freshBerries and peaches, a very nice and light end to the meal finished with a good cup of espresso. I was really impressed at how reasonably priced the dishes were and the attention to detail. We had a bottle of white wine from manarola and the bill worked out to c 40pp. Best of all, Christina, the owner of the restaurant drove us back to Manarola after dinner! I have been to cinque terre three times, but did not get a chance to try, so am glad that I managed to this time. Worth calling for reservation as there are about 4 tables upstairs and 3 tables downstairs. What a memorable meal! Thank you!

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Geir-Ole

Geneva, Switzerland

Level Contributor

76 reviews

36 restaurant reviews

92 helpful votes

“Delicious food”

Reviewed August 1, 2013

We dined here on 1 August 2013. We had read a lot about this restaurant here on TripAdvisor, so our expectations were quite high. We were not disappointed. We had booked a table for 8 PM, and we were the first guests to arrive. We could choose which table we wanted and we chose the one by the window. The window was wide open as the outside temperature was close to 30°C. We had a nice view of the steep hills above Groppo and we could admire the sunset. The lady who served was very pleasant and she explained the menu in many languages: Italian, German and English. We could see the kitchen from where we sat and we saw the chef and his assistant working.

We chose the Menu of the Day, which was 42 € per person for antipasto, primo piatto, secondo piatto and dessert. We chose the specialty of the house for antipasto, the Cappun Magru. This is a gastronomic piece of art consisting of layers of beetroot, avocado, fish and seafood accompanied by various shells, such as mussels, clams and oyster. It was delicious and quite plentiful. Although we were pretty hungry we started to get quite full already after this antipasto.

For primo piatto we chose a fish soup with sardines and a pasta dish with fish and seafood, respectively. Both were delicious and tasty.

The crux of the evening was the main course. Since we were quite full already we were happy to see that the main course was not too plentiful. The dish consisted of fried fish in relatively small pieces accompanied by a little tower of vegetables where one could find avocado and cucumber among other vegetables. The sauce contained hazelnuts and was delicious. The fish was a bit crispy on the outside from the frying but really juicy on the inside. This combination of a crispy outside and a juicy inside is not easy to accomplish, and I have to say that this is one of the best prepared fish dishes I have ever tasted. Being Norwegian and raised on fish it is not easy to impress me with fish or seafood, but this dish was something out of the ordinary. We asked the name of the fish and it turned out that this is a species that lives deep into the ocean. Its latin name is: Schedophilus ovalis. In English it is called Imperial Blackfish, and it is found in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, at depths of between 70 and 700 m. Its length is up to 100 cm. Our waitress told us that the chef had found this fish on the market in La Spezia the same morning and that this was the first time he prepared a dish with this fish. We were lucky to get to taste this delicious fish.

For dessert we had yoghurt mousse with fresh berries from the forest and an amaretto parfait, respectively. The dessert was rounded off with a good espresso.

The accompany the meal we had a local white wine called Aquamarina Tobiolo. One the one hand it had some round sweetness, but on the other hand it was also dry. It was a wine with a certain character and it married the food very well.

I would like to refute one of the reviews made here which says that you can get the same food down in Manarola and for less money. I have to say that I really doubt that. You can find cheaper food, yes, but the restaurants I have visited in Manarola, although I had nothing to complain about, are not even in the remote neighbourhood of Cappun Magru when it comes to sophistication and gastronomic experience. While the restaurants down in Manarola serve you good rugged cuisine, Cappun Magru offers you fine dining in a stylish, yet relaxed atmosphere.

On the negative side I could mention that the chef never appeared at our table, which is one of those gestures one appreciates in a good and serious restaurant. Our waitress could also have been a bit more formally dressed, perhaps. That said, we had a very good service and the waitress was very keen to explain all the dishes and she even brought us a big encyclopedia on fish to explain about the Imperial Blackfish.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

LikesBooksWi

Wisconsin

Level Contributor

70 reviews

48 restaurant reviews

31 helpful votes

“Perfect”

Reviewed July 28, 2013

This was a marvelous experience. Shuttled up to Groppo from Manarola, cozied into a lovely table and enjoyed the meal start to finish. The owners work extremely hard to make everything just perfect. It really feels like being invited in to a (upscale) home. Christina was an amazing hostess, patient and kind to every guest. She made wonderful wine suggestions that surpassed our expectations.Every course was perfectly timed. We had a table upstairs that looked into the kitchen AND out over the beautiful countryside. The food was spot-on. Cappun Magru dish was wonderful, but truly, everything was. A very memorable night, and as a special happy touch, Christina drove the guests back down to Manarola! Was a beautiful experience. AImportant: Other diners below mentioned something about credit cards....we saw them accepting credit cards with our own eyes, so don't let those reviewers dissuade you from going.

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